JMU's Center for Economic Education - Promotes economic literacy in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, as well as provides training and assistance to area teachers and selected adult audiences to further the understanding of economics and the private enterprise system. Economics Professor William C. Wood is Center Director.

The 2014 GEM Fair (Global Entrepreneurship Marketplace Fair) brought two hundred students from area schools to JMU's Festival Conference Center on March 12, 2014. The students conducted a simulated international marketplace, using products they had developed in classroom mini-economies. The GEM Fair is sponsored by Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. and is organized by the JMU Center for Economic Education.

More than 350 students from schools across the Shenandoah Valley attended the 15th annual GEM Fair, an entrepreneurship fair sponsored by the JMU Center for Economic Education and Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. GEM is an acronym for "Global Entrepreneurship Marketplace," reflecting the international simulation conducted each year at the GEM Fair.

Participating students have worked with teachers to create in-class, mini-economies, each with its own currency. For the GEM Fair, students convert their money into holdings of the Fair's official currency, the Gem. Awards are given for innovative products, outstanding marketing, and money design. Young Entrepreneurs of the Year are also selected.

Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. (SVEE) is a non-profit organization that promotes economic literacy in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. JMU Economic Education is a sponsored program of SVEE.

The JMU Center for Economic Education hosted area high school teachers for an Economics Institute in July 2012. Pictured are the teachers, along with instructors William C. Wood and Lynne Stover from the Center. The teachers are preparing for a new required class in economics and personal finance that all Virginia high school graduates must complete, starting with the class of 2015. Find out more at http://www.jmu.edu/cob/CoB2/CoB_News.shtml#cee

More than 400 elementary and middle school students convened at the JMU Convocation Center on May 27, 2011 for the annual Global Entrepreneurship Marketplace (GEM) Fair, which is sponsored by the JMU Center for Economic Education and Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. The students made products in classroom societies and brought the products to JMU for the Fair, a simulation of international trade.

Research Resources

JMU Specific:

NBER Working Paper Series. You can open this database file in Microsoft Access to get an index to working papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The papers are available to JMU faculty and staff. Student researchers who would like access should contact the Department Head, Dr. Ehsan Ahmed.

Carrier Library. Link to the Carrier Library online catalog and many offsite resources.

Econ-Lit database. Click through this site to open Econ-Lit from any on-campus computer.